Feeding Program

In 2016 the famine in sub-Saharan Africa hit rural Zimbabwe hard. So in partnership with the CHBC outreach team at St Alberts hospital, I funded emergency early morning feeding program for ECD and primary children at Sable Heights School; the following term the program was extended to Clearmorning School. Both schools had a high number of orphans enrolled, and all the children, orphans or not, were malnourished. Most had eaten nothing before the long walk to school: they were listless and unable to concentrate. In total a thousand children received the fortified nutritious protein drink known locally as maheu each morning.

2017:  A generous group of friends undertook to run a Trivia Evening in mid-May to raise money so that the maheu feeding program can continue—a wonderful response I couldn’t have anticipated. We raised AU$22,000, sufficient to continue the feeding project into 2018.

2018:  According to the Global Hunger Index, Zimbabwe is ranked 108th out of 119 countries. The area in which we run the feeding project is one of the worst affected areas.

The pandemic disrupted the feeding program through 2020-21. Constant school closures meant children were not at school for long periods of time. At the times when schools were open, the feeding program resumed.
2020-21
Many generous supporters made online donations in 2020 because with lockdown it was not possible to hold a fundraising Trivia Night. In 2021 a successful Trivia night was held which raised $24.000, enough to cover costs well into 2022.
2022
This year, with continuing concerns about Covid, we have decided not to hold a fundraising evening. Instead we are running an expanded raffle for our supporters and we hope to raise sufficient funds to cover the feeding program through 2022-23.